Leftists and UN Supporters Cheer Pope’s Message

Posted: June 30, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Leftists and UN Supporters Cheer Pope’s Message
by JBS President John F. McManus

England’s National Weather Service reported several years ago that the phenomenon known as global warming ceased in 1997 and has not returned. Germany’s Dr. Hans Von Storch, a contributor to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is on record disputing any claims made by the UN about the supposed increase in global temperatures.

Pope Francis, (Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service (Photographer name) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons).

Other global warming skeptics noted by William Jasper of The New American include former Georgia Institute of Technology professor Judith Curry. Once known as the “high priestess of global warming,” she is now cautioning anyone to reject alarmist claims about the earth heating up. New Zealand’s Dr. Jim Renwick, a former ally of the global warming alarmists, has backed away from his previous comments and now says, “The weather is not predictable beyond a week or two.”

University of Pennsylvania weather forecasting expert Dr. J. Scott Armstrong now says, “no one has provided evidence to refute our claim that there are no scientific forecasts to support global warming.” Climate scientists Richard Lindzen, Timothy Ball, William Happer, Freeman Dyson, John Christy, Roy Spencer, Vincent Gray, Christopher Essex, Fred Singer, and many other atmospheric and climatology scientists have been challenging global warming claims for years. They are especially critical of the increasingly discredited climate models cited by alarmists as absolute proof of a warmer earth. All of these scientists are joined by hundreds of others who are telling the public to calm down because the earth is not heating up. Many are converts from their formerly held beliefs about a warming cataclysm. Conclusions now reached by many contend that there has been no warming over the past 18 years.

But, into this discussion comes Pope Francis and his 184-page encyclical “Laudato Si” devoted in large part to blaming the human race for causing climate change (the new name for global warming). “Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods,” says the Pope. Global warming believer Barack Obama cheered. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was ecstatic. The UN’s climate change experts who are busily preparing for the world body’s December convocation in Paris to address supposed climate change, gleefully welcomed the pontiff’s message while they ignored his condemnations of abortion and population control practices.

Catholics aren’t alone in wondering why the Pope relied for advice on a German self-professed atheist who believes in Mother Earth (Gaia). Microbiologist Hans Schellnhuber of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research supplied perspective for the Pope’s encyclical. Another adviser chosen by Francis is Veerabhadran Ramanathan who practices Hinduism and contributed thoughts for the Pope about population control. Strange collaborators for the head of the Catholic Church? Indeed they are.

In September, Pope Francis will visit the United States where he is expected to bring his apocalyptic global warming and population control messages to the United Nations on one day and then to the U.S. Congress on another. Also during October, the Vatican will host a worldwide synod of bishops where some of the issues raised in “Laudato Si” will surely be discussed. The Pope is expected to continue crusading against the burning of fossil fuels even while he attacks industrialization that depends on energy created by burning fossil fuels.

It’s fairly easy to conclude that Pope Francis, who is not a scientist, needs new advisers. Sad to say, what the Pope has issued in “Laudato Si” is far from helpful according to the growing number of scientists who can be labeled global warming skeptics.

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Mr. McManus served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the late 1950s and joined the staff of The John Birch Society in August 1966. He has served various roles for the organization including Field Coordinator, Director of Public Affairs, and now President. He remains the Society’s chief media representative throughout the nation and has appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs. Mr. McManus is also Publisher of The New American magazine and author of a number of educational DVDs and books.

Export-Import Bank: Let it Die!

Posted: June 24, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Export-Import Bank: Let it Die!
by JBS President John F. McManus

Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) is leading the campaign to let the Export-Import Bank expire. If Congress doesn’t formally reauthorize its existence by June 30, it will no longer be providing loans to foreign firms and governments who buy products from Boeing, General Electric, John Deere, and numerous other establishment-favored U.S. firms. Hensarling chairs the House Financial Services Committee where he has become a determined foe of the Bank.


Watch House Financial Services Committee Chairman Hensarling deliver the opening statement on whether or not the Export-Import Bank is necessary (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROpfJuQg-Ss).

The Ex-Im Bank began courtesy of an executive order signed by President Roosevelt in 1934. (Unconstitutionally making law with the stroke of a pen isn’t something new!) Originally, its chief beneficiary was the murderous cabal running the Soviet Union. During the emergence of Communist China as an economic powerhouse in the 1980s, the Bank provided millions to the Beijing regime. Example: In September 1982, the Reagan administration approved a loan of $68.4 million to finance the building of a steel mill in the People’s Republic. Mr. Reagan approved the deal by signing a document stating that the transaction was “in the national interest of the United States.”

Similar deals had already been approved by the Nixon administration for Communist Russia, by the Ford administration for Communist Yugoslavia, Romania, and Poland, and by the Reagan administration for these same Communist tyrannies. Simply put, the Ex-Im Bank has been one of communism’s best friends.

Supporters of the Bank claim that it actually earns money for the U.S. Treasury when loans are repaid with interest. If these deals are profitable, why is a government-run bank needed? Wouldn’t private megabanks be willing to provide the cash if a profit were available?

Three years ago, Congressman Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) made good sense when he opposed reauthorization of the Banks: “The Export-Import Bank dragoons American taxpayers into subsidizing loans to foreign companies making it cheaper for them to buy products from politically favored American companies.” He noted that past beneficiaries included “such upstanding enterprises as Solyndra and Enron,” both of which turned out to be expensive failures paid for by U.S. taxpayers.

Beyond the benefits reaped by U.S. mega corporations, Ex-Im has helped to fuel the transfer of numerous industrial enterprises from the United States to foreign nations. The jobs of many Americans have been lost and American manufacturing leadership has continued to fade away, partly due to the work of the Ex-Im Bank.

Hardly anyone wants to ask where in the U.S. Constitution an entity such as the Ex-Im Bank derives its authorization. As is the case with so many other federal agencies and departments, there is none. This year may see the end of Ex-Im making new loans as it winds down existing outstanding business and soon closes its doors. No congressional action is needed. It should be allowed to die.

Are you receiving our free weekly e-newsletter? Keep up with our latest news and sign up at JBS.org or on our Facebook page.

Mr. McManus served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the late 1950s and joined the staff of The John Birch Society in August 1966. He has served various roles for the organization including Field Coordinator, Director of Public Affairs, and now President. He remains the Society’s chief media representative throughout the nation and has appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs. Mr. McManus is also Publisher of The New American magazine and author of a number of educational DVDs and books.

Marriage Can’t Be Redefined

Posted: June 18, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Marriage Can’t Be Redefined
by JBS President John F. McManus

One of the unique features of the country known as the United States of America is its Declaration of Independence. And perhaps the most singular of the numerous important affirmations contained therein is acknowledgement of a “Creator.” No qualification is given. The men who wrote and signed the document believed in the Almighty who created “all men.” In their day, of course, the meaning of “men” referred to all persons, male and female.

Supreme Court building (Image from Wikimedia Commons by Jeff Kubina, [own work]).

Belief in a Creator presupposes adhering to those standards of conduct He presents. One of these is the definition of marriage given in Genesis. After recounting the creation of woman from a rib of man, the Creator’s holy book tells us, “Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother and shall cling to his wife and they shall be two in one flesh.” In simple terms, the institution known as marriage is a union between one man and one woman. Without doubt, this is what America’s Founders believed.

History recounts numerous attempts to overcome this sacred relationship. In their 1848 Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels attacked bourgeois marriage as a hurdle standing in their path to tyranny. Decades earlier, along with their intention to deify sensuality, the 1776 Bavarian Illuminati, from whom Marx and Engels obtained much of their designs, formally advocated repudiation of marriage. Totalitarian libertines throughout history have likewise attacked the very concept of marriage because it has always stood as a bedrock of human civilization blocking their way to totalitarian rule.

An American who might have fallen asleep 60 or so years ago and then awakened today would, without doubt, be shocked to learn that more than half of our nation’s state governments have redefined marriage to include a union between two persons of the same sex. And the Supreme Court has agreed to render its opinion on the matter. A proper decision would state without equivocation that the “Creator” of all has already defined marriage, and it cannot be changed. The definition given us by our Maker is that marriage is the union only between an Adam and an Eve not between some Adam and some Steve.

Speaking before the “Women of the World” gathering at the United Nations early in 2015, putative presidential candidate Hillary Clinton stated that “deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed.” Many same-sex-marriage enthusiasts, including New York Times columnist Frank Bruni who is a proud homosexual, have seconded her attitude. Sadly, these two cultural and religious revolutionaries are hardly alone.

If not blocked, the route being travelled by a growing number will lead to further attacks on the family, eventual state takeover of children, and more. Yet, there remains a huge majority of the American people who don’t agree with a redefinition of marriage and hold strongly to the “cultural codes” and “religious beliefs” openly decried by Mrs. Clinton. Questions remain: Will this still-existing majority gather itself and return the nation to sanity? Or will this shrinking majority collapse, as have others throughout history while they watched in horror the ushering in of a formally established Godless tyranny?

Are you receiving our free weekly e-newsletter? Keep up with our latest news and sign up at JBS.org or on our Facebook page.

Mr. McManus served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the late 1950s and joined the staff of The John Birch Society in August 1966. He has served various roles for the organization including Field Coordinator, Director of Public Affairs, and now President. He remains the Society’s chief media representative throughout the nation and has appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs. Mr. McManus is also Publisher of The New American magazine and author of a number of educational DVDs and books.

Happy 800th Birthday Magna Carta!

Posted: June 4, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Happy 800th Birthday Magna Carta!
by JBS President John F. McManus

On June 15, 1215, a group of rebel barons with swords at the ready presented England’s unpopular King John with a document that has come to be known as the Magna Carta (Great Charter). Actually drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury and named and agreed to by both parties during their meeting at Runnymede, the document elicited promises from the king to protect church rights, cancel unjust imprisonment, establish swift justice proceedings, and place limits on taxation. The Barons agreed to cease threatening the king.

Historians note that neither side stood by their commitments. Pope Innocent III, almost immediately, declared it null. There followed the first “Barons’ War,” King John’s death from natural causes, and the beginning of the reign of his nine-year-old son, Henry III. It was under Henry’s authority that the document was reissued in 1216 after removal of some of its controversial content. When the Barons’ War ended in 1217, the already famous document, originally known as the “Articles of the Barons,” acquired the name “Magna Carta” and was included as part of the peace treaty hammered out at Lambeth in 1217.

During succeeding centuries, the Magna Carta has frequently figured in political decision-making, such as its use in the early 1600s in challenges to the belief that kings possessed divine rights, stood above the law, and could not be challenged. Some 17th century opponents of that theory were actually executed for their refusal to accept that kings could never be wrong.

Without a doubt, the Magna Carta figured in the thinking of the American colonists and is rightly credited with playing a part for the formation of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. In Essay #84 of The Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton made reference to it. But Magna Carta dealt with the relationships between the king and the barons, not so much with rights claimed by ordinary people.

The Magna Carta deserves the respect it has acquired over the centuries. And we are pleased to join in saluting it as a history making symbol of freedom 800 years after its creation.

Are you receiving our free weekly e-newsletter? Keep up with our latest news and sign up at JBS.org or on our Facebook page.

Mr. McManus served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the late 1950s and joined the staff of The John Birch Society in August 1966. He has served various roles for the organization including Field Coordinator, Director of Public Affairs, and now President. He remains the Society’s chief media representative throughout the nation and has appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs. Mr. McManus is also Publisher of The New American magazine and author of a number of educational DVDs and books.